Bradley Beal has two years and more than $70 million remaining on his contract with the Washington Wizards. Despite that, many are increasingly under the impression that he won’t serve out the entirety of that deal in D.C.
Already over the past month Beal has been linked to one massive blockbuster trade, and there are reportedly as many as five teams he’d be willing to accept a move to should things fall apart between him and the Wizards.
This week, an interesting new possible suitor emerged for Beal’s services: the San Antonio Spurs.
Beal is currently on the Team USA National Team which is being coached by Gregg Popovich, and the two parties have been extremely complimentary of one another.
“It’s so crazy, like you hear about how great he is, but he’s really great,” Beal told NBC Sports Washington.
“He is a really good coach, man. He’s a great communicator, he’s a great leader, he understands us. Like, he’s a players coach and he’s intense. He gives you everything. He can be cool, he can laugh with you. He can be serious, he can be firm with you, he can be mad at you, but it won’t carry over.”
Popovich, similarly, was deeply impressed with Beal.
“He’s stronger than I expected,” the Spurs coach said, per Yahoo! Sports.
“He’s a strong young man. I always used to think of him as wiry and thin, but I was totally wrong. He’s thick.”
Love is clearly in the air.
So what does all this mean? Well, the Spurs have made it no secret that they’re done with DeMar DeRozan – and the feeling is clearly mutual. He is an unrestricted free agent this summer and San Antonio has little use for him going forward. That said, he could still be involved in a sign-and-trade. And a contract like the one he can naturally procure is precisely the sort of deal needed in exchange for someone like Beal.
Yikes. https://t.co/rP9DViKpei
— Game 7 (@game7__) June 14, 2021
It has been suggested that a DeRozan deal between the Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers could be in the works, but if that one doesn’t materialize, one between the Wizards and Spurs would make just as much sense.
Washington gets a credible No. 1 option to help usher in the inevitable rebuild. One that would work just as well with Russell Westbrook as he would without him should one of this offseason’s louder trade rumors actually come to fruition.
Popovich gets a superstar for one final title run in the West.
A win-win for all parties involved.
Related: Andre Drummond’s 2-Word Answer On Where He’ll Play Next Year
A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
